OK, so rather than make these a new post for the same day... here are my ramblings for the day.

Ramble #1:Some guy on blogspot (how did I end up there again?) went on his own rant about how Nintendo sucks. While people are entitled to their own opinions on the matter, I felt the need to rebuke his assertion that the Gamecube didn't have any great game and that it's controller was awkward.

First the games, Smash Bros Melee, Eternal Darkness, Twilight Princess, Ikaruga, Pac-Man Vs, Pikmin, Rouge Squad 2 & 3, Wario-Ware, Viewtiful Joe, Resident Evil 4, Metroid Prime 1 & 2, and Super Monkey Ball just to name some of my own personal favorites. All of these and many more were Excellant games, most of which were exclusive to the Gamecube.

The controller was exceptionally well designed. Try to play Soulcalibur II with the Gamecube controller and then either the PS2 or X-Box controller. With a single thumb, you can press 5 combinations of the 4 face buttons (A+B, A+X, A+Y, B+Y, and X+Y).

Due to the configuration of the PS2 controller you can only hit the two buttons directly adjacent to each other (Triangle+Circle, Circle+X, X+Square, and Square+Triangle) limiting useful combinations to 4. Yes you can take your fingers and "Crab hand" to get around that, but that is uncomfortable and leave the 2 shoulder buttons unavailable.

The X-Box controller shares this problem, (X + Y, Y+B, B+A, and A+X). It even has an extra two buttons on the face (black and white) which are recessed, making it exceptionally difficult to press either of them with another button.

In a game as fast paced as Soulcalibur II, the split second lost between hitting each of those two buttons can mean the wrong attack is used leaving you vulnerable to your opponent.

Rant #2:

While walking to class today, I came to the realization that Blaster Master was due for a proper sequel (I think I can blame listening to video game music on that one).

Inspired, I sent a letter to Sunsoft's Webmaster... since I had no idea who else to send the message to. My email is as follows:
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Who do I contact to request a new Blaster Master game for the current generation of consoles and make a few ideas available to them. I feel it is about time that Blaster Master had a true sequel, and with some of the changes in hardware on the horizon, I think this is a great time to do so.

The real key to making the game give the same feeling as the original is giving the player this feeling of near invincibility when in SOPHIA, and a feeling of being naked and helpless when outside of SOPHIA. An easy mode could even make SOPHIA invincible, but the pilot still would be vulnerable, enhancing that feeling further.

If a Wii U version was made, keeping the TV as the view for SOPHIA, but have the controller screen be the pilot's view inside. Holding the controller normally should put that view right on a HUD like display for SOPHIA, but by looking around the player can see other things inside of SOPHIA. Perhaps even having an occasional smaller monster try to break in and have to turn around and fend it off, or a mini-game involving installing new components to SOPHIA.

When you leave SOPHIA, the view from the TV could even give an option of the perspective of a 2-D platformer when controlling the pilot. Of course, the player could switch the two screens on the fly as well.

As far as upgrades, SOPHIA should be upgradable with the usual increases in firepower, jumping and later hover abilities, and other movement based upgrades (driving on the wall/ceiling). The pilot should be upgradable as well, with better weapons, armor, etc. These upgrades should be located within the over-world in a manner that the player can choose which upgrade to obtain first, as well as possibly ignoring some of them (speed runs), with various short-ctus and secondary paths.

As with the original, the environment should be in a gigantic, branching cave system encompassing a variety of environments. Some of the paths could even be made of destructible materials that can be shot to block it off, perhaps to protect you from hoards of monsters, or accidently preventing access to secret areas. Perhaps even having an occasional exit to the surface which the player must block off to prevent monsters from escaping.

While I have other smaller ideas which would deal more with the specifics of areas and the creatures within, I don't want to drone on about such generic design ideas.

Please use these ideas freely, as I only want to see a new game for a beloved series.

(My real name actually followed here, which I choose not to share with the internet as of this time.)